1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulated, partially or non-insulated outdoor grill style cooker and an outdoor fireplace, and the ability to transport the outdoor grill and fireplace.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditional outdoor grills have grated cooking surfaces and a lid that can cover the cooking food to help hold heat in the cooking area. Most outdoor grills are non-insulated with some having the top lid being insulated to retain heat. Many traditional outdoor grills do not control well the flow of air moving into and out of the body of the grill. Some of the moisture and juices of the cooked food may be lost by too much intake and outflow of air. Most traditional grills are not convenient to handle, are difficult to fit into most vehicles, may be quite heavy and/or dirty to move and transport to a new location. Outdoor fireplace style cookers have also been in existence for thousands of years, where primarily food is cooked outside. Outdoor fireplaces have become a desired addition to many homes in recent years where the usage of the fireplace includes a place where friends and family can enjoy the warmth in front of a glowing fire. Combining comfort and warmth, the outdoor fireplace allows one to be outside more months of the year as a gathering spot. One is usually able to cook on the outdoor fireplace with kids enjoying roasting hotdogs, marshmallows or other food items in the open flames. Outdoor fireplace/cookers can also be heavy, cumbersome, dirty and also hard to fit into most vehicles to transport. Outdoor fireplaces are usually made of body components that do not control the intake and outtake of air efficiently, such as grated mesh and cutout sections. Outdoor grills usually burn charcoal or gas but also customarily burn wood pellets. Once the charcoal or other fuel is placed down in the lower section of the grill cooker it is not that easy to access, attend, add or remove the fuel in many outdoor grills, especially once the cooking grill is place on the grill cooker. There is usually no significant horizontal/lateral access to the lower fuel burning section of the outdoor grill cooker. In U.S. Application No. 20050121018 the cooker has the ability to add a fire pit to a grill/smoker assembly but the grill/smoker and the fire pits independent, detachable and variable stacked components are not manufactured permanently as an integrated functional unit. The grill/cooker is not designed to control the flow of air. When the middle fire pit section is added with the smoker section the open mesh construction of the fire pit allows air to flow in and out uncontrolled. There is no cooking performed in the fire pit and neither is there any fire burning fuel directly in the fire pit. There is a need for a manufactured combined outdoor grill and fireplace. The benefits of each could be enjoyed in use individually or the use of the grill cooker and the outdoor fireplace usage can be used simultaneously. The combination grill style cooker and fireplace could have cost and space savings to the user by not having to purchase two separate units plus the possibility of using same burning fuel in same time combination usages. It also would be very beneficial if the combination outdoor grill/fireplace could be designed to be conveniently transported, such as tailgating at football games, other sports events, cookouts and camping, especially without having to dismantle many components of the grill/fireplace cooker.